Lexington mayor celebrates economic wins, lower crime rates in annual speech
Mayor Linda Gorton touted Lexington’s economic development and dropping crime rates in her eighth state of the city-county address on Thursday morning.
Gorton will face six primary challengers this May as she runs for a third term as mayor. While Gorton’s first term was spent managing the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and racial justice protests, her second term has been about services and investments that lay a foundation for growth in the city.
“We know the future is now,” Gorton said. “And we know that progress doesn’t just happen, so we continuously lay the groundwork for it.”
Here’s what Gorton touched on in her annual speech.
Economic Development
Gorton touted the city’s investments in new business park projects. Lexington began groundwork on the Legacy Business Park off Newtown Pike, which is expected to be completed and ready for employers to move in later this year.
The 147 acre business park could bring in nearly 1,700 jobs with a $100 million annual payroll, Gorton said.
Gorton also highlighted the new regional business park in southern Madison County. The 300 acre business park is a joint project run in partnership with the City of Berea, Madison County and Scott County fiscal courts.
“Because of the relationships we have built, I am hopeful that the future will bring more economic development projects,” Gorton said.
Mayor Gorton also highlighted a $925,000 investment into local ag-tech startup companies through the city’s Bluegrass AgTech Challenge Grants. These grants have allowed ten companies to attain $7.4 million in additional outside funding, Gorton said.
The city’s new Davis Park Workforce Center, opened in 2025, helps connect local residents with job opportunities and training. More than 400 people have been served at the center so far, the mayor claimed.
Drops in homicides, property crimes
Mayor Gorton credited Lexington’s dropping crime rates with investments in police technology and intervention services.
The Real-Time Intelligence Center, a police technology hub that integrates traffic camera footage, Flock license plate reader camera images and other security footage have been vital in solving crimes, Gorton said.
From 2024 to 2025, Lexington saw overall violent crime drop 10.8%. Homicides are down 13%, assaults with firearms were down 23% and robberies were down 26% in the same time period.
“Acting as a police force multiplier, technology boosts efficiency, allows for expanded data analysis and improves officer safety,” Gorton said.
Last year also saw the lowest number of youth homicides in a decade, and the fewest gunshot victims since 2010, Gorton said. She credits the work of ONE Lexington, a city organization that works on youth gun violence prevention and intervention, with playing a major role in that decrease.
“The city has reduced violence involving young people by 60%,” Gorton said.
Housing and homelessness, improvements to parks
The city’s affordable housing trust fund, created in 2014, has constructed or preserved more than 3,500 affordable housing units in the city. Currently, 231 additional units are under construction with support from the fund, Gorton said.
“We have invested $60 million in public dollars to leverage a $490 million investment by the private sector … we’ve made solid progress in affordable housing,” she said.
Gorton also highlighted the ongoing work of the newly formed homelessness task force. This group has been meeting since November 2025 and will bring council recommendations for how the city can best address homelessness.
The task force was announced by the mayor last June after the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council received a study recommending the city construct a new emergency homeless shelter. That shelter would cost roughly $24 million to construct and would cost just over $2 million annually to operate, according to the study from EHI Consultants.
That $2 million annual operating cost is the same as the city spends on the emergency winter shelter — a project the mayor highlighted in her remarks.
The city has spent $50 million since 2020 on homelessness prevention and intervention services, Gorton said.
Because of a new streamlined development process, including changes mandated by a state bill passed in the 2024 legislative session and new online tools for developers, Gorton says the approval process for new development projects is the fastest it has been in a long time. A developer can have a completed plan approved as quickly as 30 days, the mayor said.
Additionally, Gorton spotlighted major investments in local parks. Gorton specifically mentioned the opening of the Cardinal Run North regional park off Parkers Mill Road; the first-ever Fayette County riverside park, Kelley’s Landing; the major renovations at the Douglass Park pool; and the prominent facelift given to Phoenix Park downtown.
No mention of new city hall
One thing absent from Gorton’s Thursday speech: the newly approved public-private partnership to construct a new city hall for the government.
Council approved, in a tight 8-7 vote, a proposal with the Lexington Opportunity Fund to renovate the Truist Bank building at 200 Vine Street. The city is expected to move into the building in 2029.
The new city hall project is more than 40 years in the making, with Gorton being the first mayor to successfully steward a proposal through the city’s council. Many councilmembers and members of the public, though, feel that now is not the right time to fund a new home for the government, citing rising housing costs and social needs.
But the mayor has not made any public remarks about the project since its December approval.
“This State of the City-County Speech generally focuses on accomplishments from 2025 that are completed, or well underway. The city hall project is really just getting off the ground,” Susan Straub, a spokesperson for the city, told the Herald-Leader when asked about its omission from the speech.
The city will pay the Lexington Opportunity Fund $30 million upfront for the property. When the renovations are ready, the city will move in and pay $3.5 million annually as part of a 30-year lease agreement. The city will assume full ownership of the property after that 30-year lease.
This story may be updated.
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 1:00 PM.
